The New England Patriots signed Brian Hoyer to a one-year deal on Sunday. Will it be just Jarrett Stidham and him competing for the starting job?
After Tom Brady’s departure, most people expected the New England Patriots to bring in another big-name quarterback to compete for the starting job in 2020. Names like Jameis Winston, Cam Newton and Jacoby Brissett were mentioned as possible veteran additions to hold down the fort in Foxborough. Instead, the Patriots elected to bring back Brian Hoyer.
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Hoyer’s addition provides familiarity to the quarterback room and a potential veteran presence for their second-year passer.
New England’s quarterback competition now consists of three participants: Brian Hoyer, Jarrett Stidham and Cody Kessler. Hoyer is the most experienced of the trio, having played 69 games in his 11-year career with seven different franchises.
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Stidham was the Patriots’ fourth-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft; he only completed two of four passes for 50 yards and threw one interception in relief of Brady last year. Kessler was merely a depth signing who hasn’t played a snap since 2018.
While it seems odd to say that the Patriots are finished adding to the quarterback room, that may be the case. According to Spotrac, New England only has $10.6 million remaining in cap space. They need to use a significant portion of their remaining cap to sign incoming rookies and fill out the bottom of the roster. Given their financial situation, signing another veteran would be difficult without making some cuts.
The Patriots could draft a quarterback, but they already spent a selection last year on Stidham. I don’t see Bill Belichick and company committing to scouting and drafting an early-round quarterback this late in the process — unless they could grab one of the top prospects like Joe Burrow or Tua Tagovailoa.
They have the capital to move up from 23rd overall to select a top prospect, but they will likely not be able to outbid the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers, who have the No. 5 and 6 overall picks, respectively. It’s possible the Patriots grab a quarterback in the later rounds of the draft, but it will be difficult to evaluate the starting quarterback position if Hoyer, Stidham and the incoming rookie have to split time with the first team.
It seems likely the Patriots will go into training camp with Hoyer and Stidham competing for the starting job. If so, I find it hard to believe New England will win many games in 2020. After all, Hoyer has a career record of 16-22 and a career completion rate of 59 percent. He has never played a full 16-game season and was benched multiple times throughout his career.
Stidham was an intriguing prospect coming out of Auburn, but he was a fairly low-volume passer in college. In 2018, he only completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,800 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. Stidham has never thrown for more than 3,200 yards or passed for more than 18 touchdowns in his collegiate career.
Maybe Belichick believes he can win with Jarrett Stidham. Maybe the organization is doing the unthinkable and committing to a lost season in the hopes of drafting Trevor Lawrence in 2021. Maybe Julian Edelman and Mohamed Sanu can alternate taking snaps from the Wildcat formation.
Whatever the case may be, Belichick and company seem to be finished adding known commodities to the quarterback room and are entering uncharted territory in the post-Brady era.